Carved From Stone
by castellations
Summary: Fourteen years ago, the Order of the Stone rescued a tiny baby from a burning village. Now, that child has grown up to be a hero. What will he do when he has to face the unthinkable?
1. Prologue

**This work is based off of gruvu's "Carved From Stone" AU. All credit goes to gruvu for creating the AU in the first place!**

 **Here's the link: post/137366320113/first-page-and-like-i-said-gonna-keep-this**

 **It's a comic, and that's the link to the first page. There are 9 pages in all, I think. The first chapter is based off of the comic, and the rest is my own invention! Enjoy!**

"Are we there yet? " Magnus groaned from atop his horse. The Order had been riding for over a day, and the rogue was restless.

"Magnus, for the last time, no!" Ivor groaned.

Magnus glared at the back of Ivor's head. "But we've been riding forever. I'm bored, and my butt is sore."

"I could sing if you want, Magnus," Soren chimed in from the front.

"No!" the other Order members exclaimed in unison.

Soren frowned, but stayed quiet as they continued on in silence. After a few minutes, Gabriel squinted at something in the distance. "My friends," he began. "I think there is something up ahead."

"What is it?" asked Soren.

"It looks like a village," Gabriel explained.

"Thank Notch!" Magnus exclaimed. He rushed ahead, leaving the other Order members in the dust. "Race you, losers!"

Magnus laughed as the others yelled from behind him, trying to catch up, but as he approached the village, he saw something terrible and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh, Notch, no."

"Magnus?" Soren questioned as he approached from behind him. "Oh..."

About a mile ahead of them was a village engulfed in flames. Soren clenched his fists around the reins of his horse. "We have to look for survivors."

Ivor shook his head. "No. We have to move on."

"Ivor-" Magnus tried.

"We have to look-" Soren began.

"No! We have to keep moving! We don't have time. We have a dragon to kill!"

"We have to search, Ivor! If at least one person survived-"

"Soren is right," Gabriel said. "If there are people who survived, we must help them. Ellegaard, you and Soren stay here with the horses. Magnus and Ivor, you two are with me. Come on."

Ivor groaned impatiently. "This had better be quick."

Things were quiet as the three approached. The fire was still raging fiercely, but it was dying down in some places, leaving nothing but burnt rubble and dying embers in its place.

"We must hurry," Soren said. "It will be night soon."

Gabriel nodded. "We'll split up. I'll head north. Soren-"

"I'll head east. Ivor?"

"West," Ivor grumbled.

"Then let's go. We don't have much time."  
-

Gabriel walked through the ruins of the old village. Not much was left. The only thing that had ever suggested its existence was all of the rubble surrounding him.

A cry pierced through the air.

Gabriel stopped in his tracks. It sounded as though it was coming from his left. He headed that way.

This house was one of the few that was not on fire.

The cries got louder the closer he came. The door was mostly gone, so Gabriel was able to walk right in without much difficulty.

There were a few flames here and there, but mostly it was just burnt rubble. Gabriel couldn't see much through the thick smoke, but he saw two burnt corpses on the ground. He stepped over them, careful not to disturb their remains. The cries were much louder now, and appeared to be coming from the right side corner of the room. Gabriel headed towards the sound.

In the corner of the room was a crib. Gabriel peered inside and picked up a small, screaming infant.

He couldn't have been older than one. His skin was tan and his hair was a jumbled mess of dark brown locks. The poor thing had a burn on his neck, and he was wrapped up in a slightly charred blanket with what he presumed was the name of the child printed on it in blue letters. Gabriel took the child and rushed out of the house just before the house collapsed in on itself.  
-

"If he isn't back soon, I'm leaving," Ivor complained.

"Wait," Magnus said. "I see him."

Gabriel appeared suddenly, carrying something in his arms. He was saying something, but neither Magnus nor Ivor could make out what he was saying.

"What?" Ivor called.

"I said, monsters!" Gabriel shouted as a warning, but it was too late.

Following not too far behind Gabriel was a hoard of zombies. Some of them got caught up in the rubble and burned, but most of them were advancing quickly.

"We need to hurry! Come on!" Ivor shouted, already running back towards the hill where they had left Soren and Ellegaard.

Gabriel and Magnus managed to fend off the oncoming hoards of zombies until Ellegaard came and helped them to safety.

"What the hell, Gabe? You could've gotten yourself killed!" Ellegaard shouted as they approached the hill.

The child was still screaming as Gabriel ran towards the horses. Ellegaard hopped on her horse and somehow managed to get Gabriel on his without much struggle.  
Once they were far away enough from the blazing inferno, they all slowed down. Magnus rode up next to Gabriel.

"What happened back there, Gabe? You were gone for at least an hour."

Ivor rode up next to him as well. "Yes, what were you doing? I think we all have the right to know. One more moment back there and we would have-"

"Yes, I know. But I got sidetracked."

"What are you-" Ivor began, but stopped.

Gabriel pulled the small, now quiet bundle away from his chest and held him out for everyone to see. "This is Jesse."


	2. Four Years Later

Four years had passed since that fateful day.

The Order had split up not long after they had defeated the Ender dragon. After the little stunt that Soren had pulled at the last minute, everyone had decided that it was for the best that the Order disband. Magnus had gone off to some secluded corner of the world to build his utopia, Ellegaard the same. Soren had decided to study the habits of Endermen, and last Gabriel saw of him he was collecting materials from all around the world to begin building his laboratory in the End. As for Ivor, well...Gabriel had no idea what became of him. He just up and left without one word to the rest of them first. As for Jesse, the small boy that Gabriel had rescued, well...Gabriel had decided to keep him. Until now, life had been perfectly fine.

Now, Jesse was five years old. Energetic and lively, the young boy was curious and white-hearted. He was always curious, and he never gave up.

However, as Jesse grew, Gabriel began to realize the truth: he couldn't keep Jesse forever. Jesse was a sweet boy; he deserved a normal childhood. Gabriel knew he couldn't provide that. He was an adventurer, not a father.

If anything, he was a coward.

That was why, late one night, Gabriel had woken Jesse and told him that they were going somewhere.

"Where are we going, Gabe?" young Jesse inquired as Gabriel helped him onto his horse.

"Someplace safe, I hope," was Gabriel's response.

Jesse, being small and naive, only nodded, and said, "Me too."

It was in the early hours of the morning when they arrived in a small town. Jesse had been asleep for some time now. Gabriel hoped against hope that he would stay that way.

Of course, it was just Gabriel's luck that as soon as they had stopped, Jesse lifted his head.

"Gabe, where are we? I don't recognize this place..."

Gabriel said nothing. He got off of his horse and then helped Jesse off as well.

"Gabe, where are we?" the small child asked again, this time sounding more urgent than he had before. "I don't like this."

"Me neither. But it's for the best. Listen: I want you to go wait by that fountain over there. See it?" He pointed to a large fountain in the middle of the town square. "I want you to go over there and wait. I'll be back soon. I promise."

Jesse nodded. "But where are you going? Can't I come?"

"No. It's...too dangerous. I'm sorry."

Jesse was silent for a moment. Then, "Will you at least walk me there?"

Gabriel nodded. He took Jesse's hand, and together they headed off towards the fountain.

It was still quite early in the morning, so they didn't pass too many people, but the ones they did recognized Gabriel and smiled at the small child beside him. They waved, and Jesse, who couldn't help but be friendly to everyone, smiled and waved back. Gabriel noticed this, and felt a pang in his heart. It pained him that he would probably never see Jesse again.

They arrived at the fountain, and Gabriel kneeled so that he was eye-level with Jesse. "I need you to wait here," he repeated. "Don't move away from the fountain. I probably won't be back for a long time."

"Why?"

The simple question caught Gabriel off guard for only a moment. "It's not easy to explain," he tried. "You'll understand when you're older why I had to do this."

"Okay." Jesse replied, feeling very uneasy.

Gabriel stood up. "Be good, okay?"

Jesse nodded and beamed. "I will. Promise!"

"Good." Gabriel walked away from the fountain with a heavy heart.

Jesse turned and plunged his hands into the icy fountain water. He made a game of trying to pick up as many coins as he could before his hands went numb. He had gotten to 30 when he heard footsteps behind him. Thinking that it was Gabe, he turned and held out his hands. "Look, Gabe. Look how many coins I have!"

But it wasn't Gabe. It was a young woman, with tanned skin and short, black hair.

"Hello," she said, smiling. "That certainly is a lot of coins."

Jesse suddenly felt very shy. "Hi. Where's Gabe?"

The woman clearly didn't know who "Gabe" was, and Jesse realized that just before she said so. "Who is Gabe? Is he your father?"

"I think so."

The woman frowned. "He just left you here?"

"Yeah. But he said he'd be back."

The woman was silent for a couple of minutes. "What's your name?" she said finally.

"Jesse. What's yours?"

"Maria."

"That's a pretty name!"

"Thank you. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Go ahead. I was getting lonely."

Maria took her seat by Jesse. They sat in silence for a while before Jesse turned around and began to play in the fountain again.

The more Maria watched him, the angrier and more worried she began to feel. How could any responsible parent just leave their child alone, without any adult supervision? When this "Gabe" came back, Maria resolved to give him a piece of her mind.

But "Gabe" didn't come back. It was few hours before Maria suggested that Jesse stay at her place for the night.

"But Gabe told me to stay here. I can't leave."

"But aren't you tired? Hungry? Listen, here's what we'll do: we'll go inside and have something to eat, then we'll come right back out. How does that sound?"

Jesse thought for a moment. "Okay..." he said slowly.

Maria beamed. "Great. Just follow me."

"Who's this?" Jared, her husband, asked when Maria brought Jesse into the house. Jared was a lumberjack. He was a tall man, with a strong build and bulging muscles. He certainly looked intimidating to those who didn't know him. In this case, Jesse. But Maria knew that Jared was nothing but a big ol' teddy bear. He would never intentionally hurt anyone, let alone a child.

"This is Jesse." Maria pointed him in the direction of the kitchen, and off Jesse scurried, still afraid of the big man.

"Where did he come from? Surely his parents are looking for him."

"That's the thing, though. He hasn't got any."

"What do you mean?"

"Can I have a sandwich, Maria? " Jesse called from the kitchen.

"Yes. Do you know how to make one?"

"Yes. I think so. "

"What do you mean, he hasn't got any? Surely he wasn't wandering the streets alone."

"He was by the fountain. He says he's waiting for someone named 'Gabe'."

"'Gabe'?"

"Yes. Apparently, this 'Gabe' left the poor child all alone by the fountain, adn told him to wait there. Well, he waited, all right. That's for damn sure. As soon as this 'Gabe' gets back, I'll give him a piece of my mind! How dare he leave his son all alone? He could have been hurt! Kidnapped, or worse!"

"I completely agree. In the meantime, however, we must decide what to do with Jesse."

"Can you help me, Maria? I think I did it wrong. "

"I'll be right there! I think," she continued, in a whisper, "that for now we should let him stay. If this 'Gabe' doesn't come back, we'll see if he wants to stay with us."

"We'll adopt him?"

"Well, I've always wanted children, Jared, you know that. We've tried for so long. Maybe...this is a sign?"

"A sign?"

"Maybe we weren't meant to have children...oh, Jared, I don't know."

Distantly, they heard a crash, followed by Jesse murmuring, "Uh-oh."

"Oh, dear. I'd better go help him." Maria hurried off to the kitchen to help, and couldn't help but laugh at the scene that greeted her.

Jesse had two pieces of bread out, and every kind of meat that they had was spread out on the kitchen counter. He had a bit of mayonnaise on his hand, and the jar was on the floor in pieces.

"Oh, dear. What on earth are you doing?"

"Making a sandwich. I think."

"Well, how about I help you?"

Jesse looked at the meat on the counter, then at the jar of mayonnaise on the floor.

"That seems like a good idea."

So Maria and Jesse set to work. Soon enough, the mayonnaise and the glass were cleaned up, and Maria had put almost all of the meat away.

"Would you like a reuben sandwich?"

"Reuben?"

"It's my favorite kind," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Alright," he nodded.

As it turns out? He really loved reuben sandwiches.

Over the next few days, Jesse began to think that maybe Gabe wasn't coming back. After all, Gabe had said that he would only be gone a little while. Well, it had been a little while, hadn't it?

He asked Maria. "Maria, how long will Gabe be gone?"

"I don't know, child. I really don't."

"I'll stay with you until he comes back, okay?"

"That sounds like a plan."

The days turned into months.

As each month came and went, Jesse forgot a little bit more about the man who had abandoned him. He became more invested in his new family. He wasn't afraid of Jared anymore.

He started school. He made a new friend, Lukas Conners. He was happy.

As the months turned into years, he forgot all about Gabe.


End file.
